Lenders File Objection To SemGroup Bankruptcy

SemGroup could be preparing to jettison the company's assets to raise money.  And, executives appear to have golden parachutes at the ready.  The News On 6's Steve Berg reports some of the lenders to SemGroup have filed an objection in bankruptcy court in Delaware.

They say SemGroup informed them the company is planning to sell all of its business units and assets.  Court filings also show what the SemGroup executives' severance packages would be.

Lenders, essentially, sound worried about getting paid back.  In their court filing, they say they're not being given enough protection, given the amount of cash that SemGroup will have access to in the event of an asset sale.

The lenders also raised another dark cloud, saying they haven't had time to investigate the circumstances that led up to SemGroup's financial troubles, namely the oil hedging.

As the creditors put it, the propriety of SemGroup's trading activities could affect their ability to get paid back, seeming to imply, at least, that something was improper about the trades.

Former SemGroup founder Tom Kivisto meanwhile is still missing in action, at least publicly.  Court filings have shown that a trading company he owns owes SemGroup nearly $300 million.

As for some of the remaining executives, court filings show they should be well compensated in the event they are let go.  SemGroup Energy Partners CEO Kevin Foxx would get $900,000, Vice President Michael Brochetti would get $600,000.

Chief Accounting Officer Alex Stallings is set to receive $550,000, and VPs Pete Scheiering and Jerry Parsons would get $500,000 each.

As for rank-and-file employees, there's no word yet about layoffs.  Previous court filings show nearly 300 workers could lose their job companywide.

It's unknown how many of those would be in Tulsa.